𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻'𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 (501)

Does An Influencer Bear Sin for What Others Circulate After Their Repentance? Question: A woman who was known as a “social-media influencer” used to appear unveiled, take photos of herself, and post them. Then Allāh blessed her with guidance, repentance, and returning to Him. She immediately deleted all her accounts and erased everything, by Allāh’s grace. But, as you know, what is on the internet remains, and many people are still sharing her previous content. Is anything required of her? Does she bear the burden of those sins? Sheikh Abdulḥamīd Az-Zu'kari hafidahullāh: Whoever repents, Allāh accepts their repentance. If she is sincere in her repentance, she bears nothing. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever is upright in Islam is not held accountable, but whoever does evil is held accountable for what he did both in the pre-Islamic period and in Islam.” Since she has removed whatever she was able to remove, and if she can remove anything further, then praise be to Allāh; if she cannot, she should devote herself to obedience to Allāh, and it will not harm her. People—may Allāh guide them—when they learn that someone has repented to Allāh, they deliberately and intentionally publicise what he or she used to do before repentance. In Hudaydah, there was a man who sang and had a famous song on television. When people learned that he had repented to the Sunnah and had become a mu’adhdhin in one of its masjids, the television channel began broadcasting that song every day—either trying to drag him back, to remind him of it, or to mock him. Likewise, Muḥammad ʿAbduh, the Saudi singer—when he repented, people continued circulating his songs, and in the end he returned to what he had been doing; he went back to singing. And Ayyūb Ṭārish wanted to repent, so they devised a trick for him: the Ṣūfīs brought him into musical chants so that he would provide them with Sufi songs—he repented from sin only to fall into innovation. Allāh is the One whose help is sought. @womensbenefits